Regency Frigate I have been thinking about making flying ships for ages. Following some games with friends, we were all talking about introducing sailing ships and pirates, there are so many great pirate models around that a whole crew can be picked up easily. When designing the model, it is also important to try to keep the actual model small. If it is too large, it will just be impossible to use in a game on a normal sized table. So it is recommended that no more than two masts be used on a model. Starting with a toy... The great thing about kids toys is that there are so many and plenty are perfect as the basis for fantasy and sci-fi models. As a starting point for a sailing ship, a Playmobil toy is a good size, plastic, and available cheap on eBay! Its a Playmobil The deck of the toy has a number of molding bits that sort of get in the way. The answer was to build a raised deck over these with plastic card. This had the added benefit of raising the height of the 28mm model crew. Building The Deck The deck support was built up with some match sticks and then supported with foam. The deck support A template made of cardboard was initially made to make a good fit and try out som edifferent positions. Once the final shape had been determined, it was used to cut out a plastic card deck. Deck When the front and back decks were in place, some extra strips were glued to make the deck look more like wooden planks. The finished deck With the deck finished, the plan is for the hull to be modified to take three or four cannons on each side. The lower hull is already a decent enough colour to be getting on with, so work was concentrated on the top deck first to see how the whole model would look before the number of cannons was decided. Not very good blue... So you will have noticed that its not very realistic in this shade of blue. With the decking all done, the upper hull was undercoated ready for painting a more pleasing wood colour. Undercoat The upper deck was undercoated with a car primer usually used as the first coat on a bodywork repair job. In this case, the colour is as good as any for a wood base coat. Ink it! Following the undercoat, the deck was given a healthy soaking in brown ink. The hatch was painted black and then drybrushed with Gun Metal to give a heavy iron look about it. Red'n'Gold The gunwales were painted gold and the outer top hull was painted red, two colours that go together very well, but perhaps are used to often, but what the heck.... Waterline Hull Now that the main deck was coming along, it looked like the model was actually going to work. At this stage, I decided to lower the hull to a waterline height. Some friends had purchased some resin ships and these were all waterline models, so on the same table, my ship would tower over them! I had to retain enough height in the hull to allow for several cannons to be positioned on each side. In the end, the hull was only reduced in height by about 20mm but it made a great deal of difference to the models appearance. I opted for three cannons on each side, I did not want this ship to be too powerful and besides, there were to be other main deck weapons. Three 9mm holes were drilled at 60mm intervals taking care to ensure the holes would under the main deck. A biro was used as the cannon barrels, each bit cut to around 30mm in length. Cannon Detail The plan was to make the portholes around the cannons rather than cut a square hole in the hull and have all the hassle to mounting cannons with longer barrels. Using plastic card, 20mm square portholes were cut each with a hole in the middle. these would be painted black eventually. Porthole Frame With the porthole shape completed, a frame was made from matchsticks. These were glued on the sides and bottom of the porthole. Porthole Shutters Some more 20mm square sections were cut from slightly thicker plastic card, these were to be used as the porthole shutters fixed in an open position above the cannons. Completed Portholes with Cannons With the shutters glued in place, some additional supports were added to reinforce the structure. Bow Waves of Green Stuff As the hull was a little uneven from being attacked with a hacksaw, the cunning use of green stuff along the waterline served to cover up the cutting and create a water effect. The green stuff on the bow was built up a little higher to represent the water breaking on the bow. Waterline A line of green stuff was continued all the way along the hull to the stern (that is the back for all you land lubbers). Painted hull To paint the hull, a can of brown spray paint was used. This was a car paint, so it was a bit glossy, but a bit of dry brushing over the top dulled it down nicely. The cannons were painted black and then drybrushed with a bit of bolt gun metal. Almost finished When the upper and lower hulls are put back together, the finished result is looking pretty good. Crows Nest The Crows Nest was scratch built to allow several models on 25mm bases to be positioned. Plastic sprue was used as the rail, which should stop them from falling off when the ship is moved during a game. Cleats Extra cleats were added to the gunwhale to allow the added rigging to be tied off. These were just plastic mounting glued to the gunwhale with the end of a paperclip mounted by drilling and gluing it in position. Finished The masts were just sprayed brown and then some cloth sails added to finish the ship. As a first attempt at a large ship, it ain't too bad. Resources Although the model built here is for use in fantasy games, it is still useful to at least base some detail in historical accuarcy with a vague nod to reality. Of course parts like the crows nest must be much bigger than normal to accommodate 25mm bases, but it is still worth trying to replicate rigging to some extent. The following internet resources were very useful: Tudor Sailing Ships by Colin Munro The Development Of The Square-Rigged Ship by E. Dankwa